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by tattoosanta



Series: MinAki Collection [1]
Category: Persona 3
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Overworking, Sickfic, Sleepy Cuddles, sick cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-12 07:04:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11731989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tattoosanta/pseuds/tattoosanta
Summary: Minato, Akihiko, and Fuuka go alone to Tartarus for a little bit of extra training on some of the lower levels of Tartarus, but a few problems arise when Minato suddenly collapses somewhere where Fuuka can't sense his presence.





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**Author's Note:**

> I should be working on Humanity's Unconscious Wish or He Doesn't Believe in Psychics, but dammit I wanted to write a shippy oneshot!   
> And because this ship is so unpopular in the fandom, I'm going to go ahead and make myself the captain of it >:D   
> I will fill the ship tag all by myself if I have to! 
> 
> ...Ahem.  
> Anyway, enjoy my weird fic! :D

Tartarus was dangerous, but not…  _ that  _ dangerous. There were floors that the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad had already been on, and as such, were perfect places for training. It was the best way to get a lot of experience in without getting their asses handed to them.

At least, that’s what Akihiko thought. And it seemed like Minato agreed with him, because the two of them, along with Fuuka,  had decided to go to the tower while the rest of SEES spent the night in the dorms to get some training in. 

They had decided to start at the middle of the Tziah block and work their way up until they could no longer fight on their own and had to fight together. It would work pretty well, as long as nothing went wrong. 

Minato had decided to take a dark hallway on the 140th floor, and for some reason, that made Akihiko nervous. Usually, Minato walked with confidence in Tartarus. Tonight, though… he seemed pretty slow. 

“You better not be getting sick or anything, Leader…” He frowned and shook his head as he continued straight. According to Fuuka, there weren’t many Shadows on this floor, but the ones that were there would be a little more difficult to handle. 

Regardless, he had little trouble with the few he did come across. Maybe it was Minato’s affinity for bringing him along, but Akihiko’s strength was almost too high compared to that of the Shadows he was facing. 

“Too easy… I wonder if I can find Leader and go up a floor.” He sighed and shook some of the leftover Shadow goop off his fist. “This floor can’t be  _ that big  _ can it…?” 

He clicked his tongue and shook his head as he started wandering around. There were a few Shadows here and there, but he defeated them without much resistance and continued on. The floor was eerily quiet without any of the rest of SEES to make subtle jabs at nearly everything they ran across. 

Fuuka had been quiet for the past few minutes, too. She usually tried to tell them how each other was doing, or if there was a difficult battle they needed help with. She hadn’t said a word about Minato in the past… oh, maybe three minutes? 

“Hey, Fuuka…” 

“Yes, Senpai?” Fuuka’s quiet voice resonated in Akihiko’s mind, and he sighed in relief. So nothing had happened to her, then… “What seems to be the matter?” 

He smiled and shook his head a little bit. “Nothing, nothing. I guess the atmosphere got the best of me, and I freaked out for a little bit there. Have you been able to sense the leader lately?” 

“No, actually, he went out of range just a little while ago.” Fuuka sighed, and that made Akihiko tense up a little bit. “He was still on this floor the last I felt… but I can’t sense him right now. Perhaps this floor is bigger than we thought it was?” 

He frowned and turned toward the direction he thought Minato went in. “I hope that’s the case… I’ll wander around and see if I can’t find him.” He had to be on the same floor still, right? There was no way he’d just… gone ahead without saying anything, right…?

Fuuka went quiet after a small hum of acknowledgement, leaving Akihiko alone again with his thoughts and the eerie silence of Tartarus. For some reason, he found himself getting nervous. Maybe Minato wasn’t okay; maybe he’d gotten hurt… or taken by something.

“Leader?!” He called into the silence. It seemed like his voice was swallowed by the darkness ahead of him, and it sent chills down the boxer’s spine. “Damn this place…” 

He was, of course, answered by silence. He didn’t know why he expected anything different. Maybe this floor really  _ was  _ much bigger than they had anticipated it to be. Tartarus was a strange building that didn’t really follow the laws of… well, everything, after all. 

He was about to ask Fuuka for something, but she beat him to it, static coming through his nonexistent headset. 

“Akihiko-senpai, Leader’s collapsed! You have to go find him!” Despite being stationary within Lucia, she sounded out of breath. Either that, or she was totally freaking out. It was hard to tell when they were so far apart. 

“Fuuka?! Can you tell me where he is?!” He paused for only a second, only to start sprinting off a split second later. “He’s on the same floor, right?!” 

“Yes, he’s still on this floor! I can’t pinpoint him, but it seems like there’s some Shadows closing in on him, and he’ll be in grave danger if something isn’t done soon!” 

Akihiko cursed under his breath and turned sharply down another dark corridor. He wasn’t sure if he was going the right way, but Fuuka hadn’t screamed at him to tell him he was going the wrong direction, so he had to assume. 

“Dammit, Leader…!” He shook his head and paused for a moment at a fork in the path. Of all the people who had collapsed in SEES… He’d expected Minato to be the last. Actually, he hadn’t expected Minato to collapse in Tartarus at all. He was just so strong… 

Somewhere in the distance,  he heard the sound of Shadows. It sounded like a small group… “That must be where Leader is…!” He had to get over there quickly if that was the case. 

His feet moved before his brain did, and soon enough he came upon a small offset of the hallway, where three Shadows were approaching a collapsed, barely breathing Minato on the floor. 

“Leader!” He ran up to the fallen boy and quickly scooped him up in his arms. “Fuuka, I found him! Can you get us out of here?” If not, he’d have to find the nearest teleporter and get out that way. Who knew how many floors that would take to find..? 

“Yes, I can get you out!” Fuuka’s voice reverberated in the silence, and soon enough, Lucia’s Escape Route appeared behind him. “Quickly! I don’t want those Shadows following after you, Senpai!” 

Akihiko nodded, and not wanting to waste any more time, stood up and all but dove into the portal. A sigh of relief momentarily went through him as he reappeared beside Fuuka, who now stood up worriedly, only to begin to panic again when he heard Minato’s weak coughing and wheezy breathing. 

“Hey, are you awake?” He somehow managed to level his voice as he looked down at their leader, whose eyes were only barely opened. “Did you hit your head when you collapsed?” 

“...I don’t think so…” Minato’s voice was hoarse, and he coughed immediately afterward. For once, his skin was warm, and that worried Akihiko more than he already was. 

“Let’s… go back to the dorms.” Akihiko cleared his throat and took a deep breath. He was the senior in this situation, he had to at least pretend to be calm. He knew Fuuka could see right through him, and Minato didn’t care, but this was more for his pride than anything else. Besides, nobody wanted to see a freaked out Akihiko coming back to the dorms with a passed out Minato and an equally freaked out Fuuka in tow. 

Fuuka nodded quietly and quickly packed up her communication equipment. “Let’s go, then…! I don’t want Leader to get more sick staying out in the Dark Hour like this…” He should have been sleeping and getting better before this happened, but… 

“He’s so stubborn…” Akihiko frowned as he started out of Tartarus, Fuuka close on his heels. Minato had gone back to somewhat unconsciousness, though his breathing was still ragged and uneven. Honestly speaking, it scared the shit out of Akihiko. Not that he was being completely honest at the moment. 

 

\-----

 

They made it back to the dorm in record time for being on foot, and Fuuka immediately went to report what had happened to Mitsuru. Akihiko was pretty sure he wouldn’t ever hear the end of it from her, but for now he just wanted to put Minato in bed and get him resting. 

He had no trouble with the stairs and the door, but actually getting Minato to lay on the bed without trying to drag him down with him was another story entirely. “God dammit, Minato… come on. I’m trying to get you down so we can get you comfortable.”

“Ugh…” Minato whined, though with such a weak voice, it didn’t sound like much. “Can’t I just go to sleep…?” 

Akihiko frowned and shook his head as he somehow managed to get Minato’s slacks off without knocking him over. “No, sleeping in your day clothes is uncomfortable, and you’re already sick. Which, by the way, scared the hell out of me tonight.” 

“...Sorry.” Minato pouted a little bit and looked away, his flushed cheeks sort of looking like a blush in the dim green light of the Dark Hour. “I felt fine earlier today…” 

“Well, that doesn’t mean anything during the Dark Hour.” Akihiko tried to sound like he was mad, but it was a little bit difficult to do while putting a sick sixteen year old in his pajamas. “Now lay down.” 

Minato frowned, but he did as he was told and lay down on his side. Though he looked about ready to pass out, he somehow managed to keep his eyes open to stare up at Akihiko expectantly. It was like he was asking to be cuddled with without actually saying anything. He was very good at that. 

Akihiko sighed and turned to close the door. “...You’re going to get me sick too, you know.” He said this, but he climbed into bed with his leader and almost instantly pulled him to him. “Just go to sleep, you brat…” 

“Thanks…” Minato made himself comfortable and closed his eyes finally, his breathing finally evening out. 

Akihiko closed his eyes for a moment and pressed his lips to Minato’s forehead for a moment. He might get sick from all this closeness and contact, but it was worth it for the quiet moments like this.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/Kudos/Bookmarks are always welcome and appreciated!


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